Workplace Wellbeing: how to dress to express your role at work and build a personal brand
Miranda Priestly in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ makes a strong impression with her designer outfits, but it’s best to choose clothing that’s comfortable and reflects your personality.
Samantha Kelly believes in the power of a red suit. In her 30s, hungover and returning from a weekend of partying in London, she spotted what she assumed was a businesswoman boarding the same early-morning flight to Dublin.
“I felt and looked crap and there she was in a stylish red suit, heels and lipstick,” says the now 55-year-old executive branding specialist from Wicklow. “In that moment, I realised I wanted to have my life together like she seemed to have. She inspired me, and 17 years of sobriety later, I now have a successful business helping people get noticed online. And I often wear a red suit — I think it shows people I mean business. I suit up and show up.”
While Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada cuts a dash in high-end fashion, choosing the right workplace clothes is more about personal style than following the latest trends.
Breeda O’Connell is a Cork-based stylist with bocimageconsulting.ie and WorkEqual, a social enterprise dedicated to empowering women to enter or return to the workplace and to providing free styling sessions to help them dress accordingly. She says our choice of clothing allows us to project a version of ourselves to the world.
“Clothing is a tool we can use to influence how we are perceived by others. As humans, we naturally look for visual cues to help us understand our environment, and when we meet someone, we instinctively form an impression of them based on what we see. It’s not about being judgemental — it’s how we process information, and it often happens unconsciously.”
Many people work in jobs where uniforms are mandatory. Healthcare professionals, retail staff, and police, for example, are all required to wear specific clothing to do their jobs.
British-based psychologist, fashion business consultant, and author of The Psychology of Fashion, Dr Carolyn Mair, says uniforms do more than signal someone’s role.
“They act as powerful social cues, enabling rapid judgements about authority, competence and trustworthiness. When someone wears a recognisable uniform, others are more likely to assume their expertise.”
O’Connell adds that putting on a uniform can help activate a professional persona. “Clothes not only affect how we are perceived by others but how we perceive ourselves and consequently how we feel, think, behave, and perform,” she says.
Mair refers to the psychological term ‘enclothed cognition’, describing it as “acting in line with what we think our clothing represents”.
It was illustrated in a study published in the US in 2012.
In the initial stage of the study, participants were divided into two groups. One group was given white coats to wear over their clothes and both groups were asked to perform attention-related tasks.
The group wearing white coats outperformed their counterparts in regular clothing.
In the next stage, participants were again divided into two groups. This time, both groups were given white coats but one group was told they were lab coats and the other was told they were painters’ coats. Again, the first group outperformed the second.
In a way, it’s similar to what Kelly does when she dresses for work. Her job doesn’t require her to wear specific clothing, but she has created a work uniform consisting of suits in red and other bright colours.
“I know I look good in them,” she says. “And knowing I look good makes me feel good. I’m more confident. I also think people treat me differently when I’m smartly put together. And my suits make me stand out. People remember me just like I remember that lady in the red suit at the airport.”
Mair says that one reason we develop work uniforms is to “reduce the cognitive load – deciding what to wear takes mental effort, and by standardising what we wear to work, we minimise decision making and free up cognitive resources for more important tasks.”
O’Connell says that WorkEqual provides styling services for women to reduce the cognitive load of preparing for job interviews. “That styling is done by professional stylists who volunteer to help women look appropriate for the job and sector they wish to join,” she says. “On interview day, they can focus on highlighting their skills and talents because they don’t need to worry about what they are wearing. They know they look the part.”
Another reason people wear a work uniform is to compartmentalise their lives, especially if they work from home. “Wearing work clothes gets you into the work mindset,” says Mair. “Taking them off again signals the end of the working day.”
O’Connell stresses the psychological boost that can come with wearing your personal work uniform: “If you’re dressed in a way you associate with professionalism, responsibility, and confidence, you’re more likely to feel and act that way. How you’re dressed can influence how competent and productive you feel, which tends to show up in your results. Having a uniform removes your need to decide what to wear each day and helps with the transition between work and personal life.”
Clothes can support you, she says. “On days your confidence isn’t quite there, the right outfit can make you feel more capable, more professional and more like the person you want to be in that moment.”
O’Connell recommends taking time to think about it. “Treat it like a project and give it some thought,” she says. “By becoming clear about what you need, you can build your work wardrobe with intention.”
Mair says it’s important to consider your work environment when deciding what to include in your work uniform. “Dressing to impress at work isn’t just about looking good. It’s about making sure what you wear fits the context, goals, and impression you want to create. Try to wear clothes that help make your role clear and remember that things like a good fit, clean lines and structure subtly signal competence.”
O’Connell agrees that “ more structured or tailored clothing often carries associations like professionalism, authority, and reliability”.
“These influence how we are seen as well as how we feel and carry ourselves,” she says.
That said, the clothing you choose should feel comfortable and reflect your personality. “If it doesn’t feel like you, it can knock your confidence rather than boost it,” says Mair.
The aim, says O’Connell, is to gather “pieces that work well together and feel right for the person and their environment. Once you find clothes that suit your workplace, feel appropriate to you and help you feel confident and capable in your role, those clothes naturally become your uniform.”
For Kelly, that uniform is nearly always red. “Even when I’m working from home and wearing jeans, I’ll pop on a suit jacket for Zoom calls,” she says.
“If anyone were to ask me how they should dress for work, I’d tell them to think about their younger selves and the look that would have made them feel professional and proud.
“For me, that’s a red suit. Polished, put together, with a pop of colour — that’s how I want people to remember me.”
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